An NFL season full of surprises and unexpected endings concluded Sunday night with a cruel outcome between Pittsburgh and Baltimore when the Ravens missed the field goal that would have given them the ticket to the playoffs on the last play.
The Steelers (10-7) survived to win the final game of the 2025 regular season 26-24 and earn the last remaining postseason berth. In that way everything has been ready for the NFL playoffs, which will begin on Saturday with the wild card round.
Pittsburgh was crowned in the North Division of the American Conference with the dramatic victory when Rookie kicker Tyler Loop’s 44-yard attempt went wide right in a stadium that has historically been very difficult for kickers.
The Steelers had taken the lead with a 26-yard touchdown pass from Aaron Rodgers to Calvin Austin with 1:25 remaining on a play in which the defensive back guarding him slipped.
But then Chris Boswell missed the extra point – his first missed this season – to make the score 26-24 with the opportunity for Baltimore (8-9) to save their bad season with the unlikely ticket to the playoffs if they made a field goal at the end.
The steel team will receive in the wild card round one of the strongest teams of the moment, the Houston Texans, who beat Indianapolis 38-30 on Sunday to reach nine wins in a row.
Carolina obtains last berth to the playoffs in the NFC
Also this Sunday The Atlanta Falcons beat the New Orleans Saints 19-17 to bounce the NFC South Division title to Carolina.
The Panthers, Buccaneers and Falcons finished tied with a record of 8-9, but Carolina won by tiebreaker criteria. Despite the victory, Atlanta fired coach Raheem Morris shortly after the end of the game.
Besides, Denver defeated the LA Chargers 19-3 to secure the AFC’s No. 1 seedwhile the Rams snapped a two-loss streak by dominating Arizona 37-20 and earning the No. 5 seed in the NFC, sending San Francisco to No. 6.
In other results: New England closed its tremendous campaign with a 38-10 victory over Miami, Jacksonville beat Tennessee 41-7, Cleveland beat Cincinnati 20-18 with the record for quarterback sacks in a season set by Myles Garrett (23)Washington won against Philadelphia – without many starters – 24-17, Detroit beat Chicago 19-16, Minnesota beat Green Bay 16-3, NY Giants beat Dallas 34-17, Buffalo crushed NY Jets 35-8 and Las Vegas beat Kansas City 14-12.
Qualified teams and playoff games
AMERICAN CONFERENCE
1 Denver (14-3), 2, New England (14-3), 3 Jacksonville (13-4), 4 Pittsburgh (10-7), 5 Houston (12-5), 6 Buffalo (12-5), 7 LA Chargers (11-6)
NATIONAL CONFERENCE
1 Seattle (14-3), 2 Chicago (11-6), 3 Philadelphia (11-6), 4 Carolina (8-9), 5 LA Rams (12-5), 6 San Francisco (12-5), 7 Green Bay (9-7)
WILD CARD ROUND CALENDAR
Saturday January 10
LA Rams at Carolina, 4:30 p.m. ET/1:30 p.m. PT
Green Bay at Chicago, 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT
Sunday January 11
Buffalo at Jacksonville, 1 p.m. Eastern/10 a.m. PT
San Francisco at Philadelphia, 4:30 p.m. Eastern/1:30 p.m. PT
LA Chargers at New England, 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT
Monday January 12
Houston at Pittsburgh, 8:15 p.m. ET/5:15 p.m. PT
* Denver and Seattle rest and advance directly to the divisional round
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